The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1887-04-08
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~ ls' lsked one 81 our number, With
!! !! ~ in his vi one evening when
- vere cruising 81 Cape Cod. that
naIlticaa worthy Was our skipper.
3 answered the question 81 an at
ts9pt to lAneh which Was peculiar to
I. lh.ilslelf. Hs opened his somewhat
extsusiye mouth to It's utmost extent,
:sss9itsd his eyebrows, craned out his
neck, and made i conyulsive gasp, as
Il ~ were in the oct 81 swoilowing a
pin. This facial convufsion was at
4 9tsnd dsl ~ no sound, and one who saw
10 for tho first time might have thought
{ khe old sailor Was going of into cat
4 galeptic fiit.
M When Uncle Eilas got over his silent,
apaamodic laugh, he replied, in a halt
apOtOgetic tone, I'll were to tell you
' I'D seen q mermaid. don't you know
you wouldn't believe sne7 Folks now
,Ndays dcn't take much stock in that
y sort Of fish. But IL IL had been the
8De6ssArpint, now, you d asked about,
4 stAin = so singular II should say I'd
4 seen II, for don't you see, it stands to
reason that II there are little sarpints
il the sea, as there surely are, there
might be big sarpints, too; just the
! little fish IN the seal
ss 1Howsomever, II any body ever came
nigh to seeing mermaid, and, mind,
don't say there amt no such things,
I'm that man."
How did It thappen, skipperY Let's
! hear all about it.
ssNvyell, IL is twenty years ago come
u next Fourth Of July that / happened
{ to be passing near the Bermudas,
bound homs from the Straits Gibral-
ralter and Sicily you know. We had
.s been blown q little out OF our course
BY head-winds. / was master Of the
{ brig Sally Ann, sailing out OF Boston.
She was named aftea my Sal-you've
seen her. / WAS part owner OF the
{ brig, and had the naming OF her.
sa 81 took Sal with me that y,y'ge, for
our Jennie had just married Bob
Il WILSON, that was sailing-mate ola ban.
4 ker out OF Gloucester, and il was kind
& Of lonesome Tor Sally at home after
e that.
a didn't quite like the looks of the
weather. It was freshening up fast
\ from the SOU west, and being In the fall
Of the year, it was likely to blow up
hard. There was a duh grey, greasy
look all around when the sun set, and
4 there was a moaning and a wailinR in
the rigging that you always hear be.
fore b gale e-of wind at sea. We were
h port tack, and i icarried sail on hard,
y Tor knew when the wind shifted 1t
you'd be dead ahead, and / wanted
= to make all j could Of westing before
s that.
We had supper at two bells-fve
O'clock, you know. The wind WAS
. picking on all the time. thought I'd
risk tho topgallant sails until the
+ watch had had their supper, but ! told
them to give me call il there was
/ any change.
8 xAswe were eating, Sal says to me,
4 IN q sort OF CHEEKY voice, Capt. Burn
ham, you'd better take n strong cup
Of tea tonight; guess you'll have to
3 be on deck all night.
s.She know allabout the weather,
4 she did; she's more'n hall sailor.
- All right, motherl' says to her.
s just then the mate put his head be.
low, and said, Capt. Burnham. Iguess
you'd better come on deck, sir. Looks
rnther squally.' !. q
~ put on my SOU 'wester and my oil
& jncket. and stepped on deck mighty
spry. II looked black, and called
AaIhands 70 take in sail. There want t
no time to lose, for ii was now piping
up, and big sea was making. The
brig labored hard, and / thought the
mast would go out OF her.
II was near seven bells before we
got The topRallant sails flrled. and the
men were still on the topsail yards
taking in q reef. It was awful dark,
and the wind and sea were rising so
fast that ordered the men aloit to
! take in another reef before they came
down.
II hadn't more than got the words
out of my ymouth before it began to
tighten in the sou'west. That, you
! know. means that there's going to be
q shit Of the wind before long. When
It lightens in the sou west. otter the
first OF October, you can't take sail
4 In too soon.
Let go your topsail halyardsi
Keep her down close, and be lively
there, add hurry on deckP yelled
out to the men.
Whenthemen came down, said to
the mate Mr.. Story, man the braces,
and havaall clear to brace the yards,
\ for We ere going to have q shift OF the
wind before long
hen n sou'wes gale in the North
Atlantic shifts to nor'west, you've
got to be smart, tell you, il SO be
you're in square-rigged vessel, For
it shifts right on the top OF q, rain
squail, sometimes before you can say
Jack Robinson, and if the topsails
are taken aback, the wind is so vio-
lent that your ship may go down
stern foremost in the cross sea before
I! you can brace them around.
Well, as you see, we were all ready
tor it when it came; and come it did
with q whoop and q howl, and crash
Of thunder all around, and the light.
ming one unbroken blaze, and the rain
a-pouring down in sheets, as if 1t
would burst the decks i'll.
7 st was the rain that saved us, for
it smothered the water until we could
get the yards around and heaye to on
the starh0ard tack. But the nor.
wester now blew furionsly, and sharp
as a razor, and it kicked up a most
awful sea. But it scoffed away the
clouds, and the moon arose abovethe
tossing waves, round and full and
yellow as gold.
tThere want nothin' more to do
but to lie to until the gale blew itself
out. ! told the watch to turn in, and
vas just a-goin' below myself to get q
few winks, when heard a sharp vail
ing shrek ring from the bow above
the booming Of the tempest. 1t sound.
ed like a woman's = voice. end yet what
should a woman be doing there, and
!, how should she be coming there, was
moro than Icouid tell.
All the men heard it, and slapped
to listen, with scared look.
Il shouted to them. Go forward,
one Of you, and see what's the mat
teri
ssBiil Snow went on to the bow and
came back paler than a ghost.
4 Well, says /, whats up now?'
4sTIe couldn't speak at first; then he
said, III u hoarss whisper, There's q
mermaid sitting on the bowsprit
shronds and combjng her hairl'
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